1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, for adjusting electrodes in a metal smelter. The apparatus includes a pressure mechanism comprising a, preferably, one-piece, ring-shaped flexible tube that is filled with a pressure medium. The pressure mechanism is positioned between clamp elements that are radially positioned around the electrode and a frame.
2. Background Information
German Patent No. 11 65 783 discloses an adjusting device wherein clamp elements are pressed against the external electrode shell by a pressure medium drive. An important element of the pressure medium drive is a one-piece, ring-shaped tube which can be filled with a pressure medium. An increase in the volume of the tube, caused by increasing pressure, provides the necessary contact pressure to fix, or hold, the electrode vertically and horizontally.
Since, in practice, the electrodes frequently have a weight of up to 50 metric tons (t), great forces are produced that must be compensated for by the pressure medium drive. The weight of the electrode generates high stresses. At the points where the pressurized tube is no longer pressed against the electrode by the radial contact pressure, high material strains are created in the tube, resulting from strong tensile stresses. In addition, the tube material can become even further stressed through deformation and compression at its corners.